


My Hunger Knows No Bounds

by AbsentMinds



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Elain and azriel are neighbours, Elain goes into labour, F/M, Food, Mentions of Death, Pregnancy, Traumatic birth, azriel avoids his feelings, azriel cooking, azriel cooks south asian food bc i am south asian, elain and the baby will be fine i promise, i saw a tumblr post and i just had to write it, this is the quickest i've ever wrote and posted anything i'm so impressed by myself
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:22:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26072611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbsentMinds/pseuds/AbsentMinds
Summary: Inspired by a post ontumblrAzriel is cooking Illyrian food and a pregnant Elain comes to ask for some since she likes the smell so much. They start to bond, but Azriel definitely does not want to think about his feelings for his pregnant friend.
Relationships: Elain Archeron/Azriel
Comments: 17
Kudos: 70





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I had biriyani and kebabs today so now Azriel and Elain are having biriyani and kebabs. What can I say, I'm creative like that. This was inspired by a really cute tumblr post I saw which you can read [here](https://perseusannabeth.tumblr.com/post/627258468285464576/i-know-i-have-2-nessian-fics-on-the-go-rn-but-this)

Azriel was cooking. Not only was he cooking, but he was cooking Illyrian food. It was a big deal, which is why he had told nobody. He knew if he told his family, they would make it into a big thing, especially his brothers. Azriel had a complicated relationship with his culture and heritage and making Illyrian food felt so utterly private right now. He didn’t want to share it with his brothers. Not yet anyway. Maybe later on, when he was done. 

He very rarely cooked, and when he did it was for comfort and ease. Illyrian food was meant to be cooked for big families. If he was more like Cassian, he would cook for his family, his brothers. But he couldn’t bring himself to do that. Somehow, today he had the urge to cook Illyrian food. He knew what had caused it. He had been on the phone with his mother, and she had been talking about how his younger sister wanted to help in the kitchen. His mother had sent him videos of his sister helping in the kitchen, and after he had hung up he couldn’t stop watching the video. For some reason, watching his 7-year-old sister stood on a chair, mixing the pot bubbling away on the stove with such joy had made his heart feel light and free.

His mother had given him a cookbook when he had turned 18. It was something that was a tradition in his mother’s family, and a way to pass down the family recipes. He had never looked at it apart from when he had first gotten it. It was just a small notebook, but it felt like the heaviest thing Azriel had ever held. The weight of it was what had kept it hidden away at the bottom of his sock drawer for 6 years. But his sister had somehow given him the strength to take it out and try a recipe. 

So 2 hours later, he’s in the kitchen, waiting for the timer to go off as he cleans up the mess he’s made. The windows are open, but the smell permeates the entire apartment, and probably the entire floor, but he can’t bring himself to care. He feels at peace with his culture for once in his life. 

A timid knock startled him from his thoughts. Azriel frowned slightly. He knew his brothers were both busy with their girlfriends, Mor was on a date, and Amren would never come over unannounced, especially not just to hang out with him. He walked over and looked through the peephole on his door, and saw his neighbour. His very pregnant neighbour, who looked nervous. 

“Hi there,” Azriel said cautiously as he opened the door. 

“Hi. It’s Azriel, right?” The pregnant neighbour asked, smiling prettily at him. 

Azriel nodded, before awkwardly asking, “Sorry, I don’t remember your name?”

The pregnant neighbour’s smile grew at that. “Elain. I’m Feyre and Nesta’s sister.” 

Azriel remembered them mentioning that their sister was moving into his building, but she had never turned up to their family gatherings, either because she was at work or because she was tired since she was 6 months pregnant, and the one time she did go, Azriel had been visiting his mother. Their paths had crossed a few times in the building, but they had just given a polite nod and smile to each other. He hadn’t even realised that she was Nesta and Feyre’s sister, although now she’d pointed it out, it was very clear. The sisters looked similar, although Elain had beautiful warm brown eyes which reminded him of melted chocolate. Elain looked as sweet as melted chocolate too. 

Azriel shook his head slightly at the last thought, as though that would be enough to get rid of the random thought he had just had, for a woman he had just met. 

“Right, sorry, I didn’t recognise you.” 

“That’s fine, we’ve never been formally introduced I guess.”

“Well, erm, is there something I can help you with?” Azriel rubbed the back of his neck, hoping that he hadn’t sounded rude while asking that. 

Elain blushed, which probably meant he had been rude. Nesta would probably kill him for that when she heard. “Actually, I was just, well, erm, I can smell your cooking and it smells so good. I know this is so weird since we don’t know each other, but, well, erm, would you mind if I had some?” 

Elain looked down at the tupperware box which she held in her hand, which Azriel hadn’t noticed before. Azriel just stared at her, not sure if he had heard her correctly. Elain, taking his silence as a no, continued with her rambling. “I’m so sorry, I know that was probably rude. It’s fine, I just really liked the smell but I should’ve known not to ask,” her blush turned darker, as she slowly started to walk away. Only her walk wasn’t really a walk, it was more of a cute little waddle. 

Azriel finally shook himself out of his daze. He softly put his hand on her shoulder to stop her from walking off. “No, it’s fine. I’ve made lots so you can definitely have some.” Azriel removed his hand as soon as she stopped walking away, not wanting to creep her out. “Would you like to come in?”

Elain put her finger and thumb on her chin and looked slightly contemplative. “Well, we have just met which is a bit weird. But since your brothers are dating my sisters, I’m going to assume you’re not an axe murderer.” 

Azriel felt his lips curl slightly at that. “I could still be an axe murderer. I’m on a murder break though, so you’re safe.”

Elain let out a tinkering laugh, which went straight to Azriel’s heart. He couldn’t help but smile at that. 

Elain walked in and managed to sit down at the breakfast bar in the kitchen. He hadn’t realised how difficult it was for pregnant women to sit down until he saw Elain struggle to sit for a whole 5 minutes. He had hovered around her just in case she fell because suddenly everything seemed dangerous around him. He had never been around a pregnant woman before, so he didn’t know how to act.

Azriel’s timer went off, and he took the lid off of the pot which had been on the heat for a while now. He took 2 plates out, and put some rice in for Elain, and then for himself. He sat down next to Elain and explained to her what the food he had made was. Elain had never had an Illyrian biriyani before, and the rice, layered with a chicken curry that also had peas and potatoes. Azriel had also taken some seekh kebabs out of the freezer. He hadn’t made them himself, he admit to Elain that they were from Sevenda’s. Elain was very vocal about how brilliant the food was, and thanked him profusely for feeding her. She admitted that she had been trying to get past her cravings since he had started cooking, but the smells had gotten too much for her and she just had to ask for food. 

Azriel was charmed by Elain. Somehow he felt even happier than he had before she had knocked on his door. She was the warmest person he had ever met. Her smile managed to warm even Azriel’s cold heart. He could see why Nesta would go to such lengths to protect her. There was something about this woman which made him feel more alive than he had felt in a very long time. It both soothed him and excited him at the same time. 

Elain started to yawn, which made Azriel realise just how late it was. Elain thanked him once again for the food and company and made to leave. Azriel quickly took the tupperware box from her before she could leave, and packed it full with as much biryani as he possibly could. He had made a lot and had been planning on giving some to his brothers, which he would now do tomorrow. 

Elain had been so thrilled when he handed her the box stuffed full of biriyani that she had squealed and kissed him on the cheek. As she waddled away, clearly happy with her bountiful hunting trip for herself and her young, Azriel couldn’t even fight the smile on his face. Even after he had cleaned up and was lying in bed, the smile had not faded. Azriel found for the first time, he was actually willing to delve into his family cookbook more, hoping that Elain would enjoy it as much as she had enjoyed the biriyani today.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone sent me a prompt on tumblr asking for an Elriel labour fic so I decided to continue this AU for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone on tumblr asked me for an Elriel labour fic as they don't see as many of them. I haven't really proof read this, and I think some of it isn't great but I just wanted to post something.

Ever since Elain had knocked on his door to ask for some food, they had set up a routine. They hadn't told anyone else about it, especially not their siblings. Cauldron knew that they were all a bunch of busybodies, and would ruin a perfectly good thing with their meddling. Azriel could already imagine his brothers with their knowing looks and raised eyebrows, and he didn’t want to imagine what Elain’s sisters would say or do, especially not Nesta. He knew that they meant well, but there was no way that he was ready for his brothers to start talking about the possibility of him being in a relationship again, and he knew that was exactly what Cass and Rhys would start talking about if they heard about the set up he had with Elain. 

Plus, with Cassian and his big mouth, there's no way Mor and Ciara wouldn't find out. While he knew that he could get Mor off his back easily enough (just tell her about Amren's secret relationship), Ciara was a whole other ball game. Unfortunately, with three older brothers, Ciara had figured out very early on in life how to get what she wanted. With their big age gap, the girl was able to get pretty much anything she wanted and get away with murder. He didn't always regret it, but when she turned to use her big fake innocent eyes on him, he wished he was less of a sucker for her games. He even knew she was playing him, and still fell for it. 

Truth be told, he wasn't quite sure exactly what his relationship with Elain was. They spent some time together with their family, but that wasn't the same. They spent many evenings together, eating and laughing and talking, just the two of them. Azriel had made quite a few recipes from the blue cookbook his mother had given him. He knew without a doubt that if it hadn't been for Elain, he wouldn't have touched it after the one time he had cooked the biriyani. He found it was quite nice to cook for Elain and to have a secret time that was just for the three of them. The baby was so active that you could never forget about the third person (not quite) in the room.

Elain was so easy to talk to. That wasn't something that he had ever found in a person, not his brothers, not his mother, not Rhys' mum, but somehow, Elain made even quiet, stoic Azriel want to talk. He couldn't quite believe it, but they spent most of their time alone just talking about anything, and he was more than capable of carrying a conversation, and participated in it just as much as Elain did, something which he had never been able to do before, and was very proud of. 

They would talk about so many different things, some topics light and fun, some topics dark and heavy. Azriel found himself wanting to share things with Elain and looked forward to these evenings often. To this day, not even his brothers knew the full story about what had happened to his hands. They had pieced things together from what Rhys' mother had said, and when Azriel used to wake up with nightmares, and his aversion to fire. With Elain, he had been the one to bring it up. She had made it so easy to talk about, he hadn't even noticed the phantom pains he got when he usually thought about what had happened, because she had been holding his hands. He hadn't noticed the tears streaming down his face either until Elain had wiped them off his face so heartbreakingly gentle. He had felt at peace when he had told her what had happened like a weight had been lifted off his chest and he could finally breathe. 

Perhaps it was the fact that he knew Elain would never judge or pity him because her situation made people judge and pity her. She knew how dirty and horrible the judgement and pity made him feel, how he would do anything to not feel like it was his fault it had happened. 

Azriel hadn't wanted to pry about the father of the baby. He knew that Elain had recently moved to the building and that she lived alone. Her sisters would go with her for any baby-related appointments, and Nesta was Elain's birthing partner, much to everyone but Cassian's amusement. Nesta had been so horrified by the birthing video, that she had refused to have sex with Cassian for a week. Both Azriel and Elain had been shocked that they had even lasted a week without jumping each other. 

Elain had opened up slightly about Graysen, her ex-fiancé who had left her because his family had put pressure onto him to marry someone more suitable. Azriel couldn’t help but get angry at Graysen whenever he thought about it, because how could someone not have the backbone to stand up for the woman he loved to his family. His father did sound like a piece of work, and Azriel was glad that Elain wouldn’t have to deal with that, but he pitied Graysen for being stupid enough to give in to the pressure and give Elain and the baby up. How this man, who claimed he still loved Elain, could give her and his child up was beyond Azriel, but he was almost selfishly glad of it because, without that, he would never have his nights with Elain. 

Social interactions often left Azriel feeling tired and drained, even if the interactions were with his family and friends. It wasn't something that happened all the time, and his family and close friends were very good at reading the signs of him hitting his limit, depending on how sober they are. A drunken Cassian, for example, cannot read any signs of anything, and even if you tell him outright, he still might not understand. A drunken Cassian should never be let into your bedroom at 3 am because he 'missed his favourite broody brother'. It is a scam, and he will cling to you like a koala clings to a tree. 

Azriel never felt drained when he spent time with Elain. It wasn't that he felt energised after being with her, he was pretty sure that was a myth. But he did feel calm and at peace after spending time together, happy even. Although his family and friends could make him feel like that, it was different with Elain. She made him feel like that every time they were together. He couldn't quite explain it, but he knew that their dinners were some of the most relaxing evenings he'd had in a while. 

He wasn't ashamed to admit that he got excited whenever Elain text him to ask if he was cooking for her. Today was no different. When he had seen that she had texted him, he instantly felt the corners of his mouth start to rise. It had been just over a month of knowing Elain, and he had never said no to her. He was pretty sure that it was illegal to say no to a pregnant woman anyway, but he had never been tempted. Elain was just so sweet, how could anyone say no to her? 

When Elain had texted him today, he had been having a boring day. Cassian was off work because Nesta was doing some fancy pants lawyer stuff today, and Cassian was a good boyfriend who was going with her to support her. With Cassian gone, Azriel had nobody to laugh at for being an idiot. Rhys was in meetings all day, so he couldn't laugh at either of his brothers for being love-struck fools who smiled dopily at their phones every time their significant others text them. Azriel tried to tell himself he wasn't jealous of what his brothers had. 

Azriel had had to get his head down and do some paperwork which had been mind-numbingly boring, and the reason why he had been putting it off for so long. He had text Mor to see if she was around to save him from being bored, but she apparently had to do inductions for some newbies. Ugh. He hated how everyone in his family had responsibilities. 

Just after lunch which he took with Nuala and Cerridwen, where they had a catch up (no Mor it isn't gossiping), he got a text from Elain, asking him if he would cook for her again. Azriel couldn't help the smile that spread across his face, even though Nuala and Cerridwen gave him some funny looks for it. Thankfully, they had been friends with Azriel long enough when to comment on something or not. He had no illusions that they would let it go, they would simply bring it up at a time when he had to answer. They were just so good at getting information out of people. 

He spent the rest of the afternoon thinking of which other recipes he could cook for Elain, and what ingredients he had in the house. He probably wouldn't need to go shopping, but he didn't mind if he did need a thing or two. These days, however, he tended to keep his apartment well-stocked in case he needed to cook for Elain at short notice. 

Elain had said she had been eating cup-a-soup for the past 2 days and would be for lunch too because, although it was just water and those gross dried ‘vegetables’, that was what she seemed to be craving. He needed to feed her something nutritional because he knew those stupid powered 'soups' had no nutritional value. Over the past month, he had been googling what was good for the baby, as well as making sure that it didn't make Elain feel sick. If he was going to cook for Elain, he might as well make sure that it’s good for her. 

He decided that he would also make dessert for Elain, which was something he didn't do as often when Elain had dinner with him, mostly because she would usually want to have something that she had baked. He and Elain had figured out the perfect system so that she didn't feel guilty about eating his food, since there was no way he would let her give him money for cooking, or even for ingredients. He would cook the main meal, and Elain would bring over whatever she had baked. Today, however, Azriel had told Elain he would cook desert himself today. He wanted to surprise her with a dessert from his mother's cookbook. Elain had been enjoying milk flavoured things a lot lately, drinking it at any given moment, even having it with her meals, so Azriel had decided to combine her two favourite pregnancy cravings, sugary things and milk, making a dessert called rasmilai which was a sugary, milky dessert with strange little dough balls in it. 

It had been one of Azriel's favourite deserts as a child, and had been craving it himself lately, but had decided to make it for Elain. He knew if not for her, he would have never made it because he was too lazy for that, but making it for Elain was so rewarding that he enjoyed cooking for her. The way Elain’s face lit up was exactly the same as the first time she had eaten his cooking. He wasn’t quite sure what it did to him when she was so happy at the sight of food in front of her, only that it made his chest feel weird and tight. 

Azriel decided to finish work at 4, which was early for him, and definitely earned him a few more strange looks from Nuala and Cerridwen but he ignored them with ease. He knew he would be getting grilled about his strange behaviour in a few days after they had snooped around and asked his brothers and Mor about what was going on with him, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. 

Azriel drove home, now not even attempting to hide the smile on his face. He seemed to smile more since he met Elain, another thing he didn’t really focus on too much. Or something he didn’t want to focus on. He seemed to be doing that a lot, but then again, Azriel was the master of avoiding thinking about his own feelings. It was definitely not a problem, his siblings had no idea what they were talking about. 

Azriel sent Elain a quick text to let her know that he was home and going to start cooking, just in case she wanted to come over and keep him company. It had happened often enough now, Elain laying on his sofa and talking until she fell asleep while he cooked. Azriel would notice she had gone silent and cover her with a blanket, making sure she wasn’t lying in a way that would cause her or the baby any discomfort. 

Elain replied as he was getting the milk into a pan, with a ridiculous amount of sugar to boil away, telling him that she would be coming over soon, with a share bag of prawn crackers, that she would not be sharing. Azriel let out a small laugh when he saw her text. He was never sure if Elain was having cravings, or if she just used them as an excuse and this was how she ate normally. Since he had never known her before she was pregnant, he couldn’t quite say for sure. 

Thinking about Elain’s pregnancy, Azriel couldn’t help but think about how big Elain was. It was the one thing that put him on edge around Elain, how she looked like she could topple down at any moment and not get back up. He tried not to be overbearing and annoying, but he was always worried something would happen to her and the baby. He had spent more of his free time reading up about pregnancy than he would care to admit. He certainly understood why Nesta had refused to have sex for a week when he had watched a video of a woman giving birth. He definitely did not envy Elain for that. 

A knock on the door pulled Azriel from the swirling thoughts in his head. He opened the door, instantly smiling as Elain waddled in, still eating her prawn crackers. He couldn’t help but laugh as she eased herself onto the sofa, still eating. 

“Az, the baby likes the smell of whatever you’ve cooked today.” 

Azriel couldn’t help but blush at the casual use of his nickname. “Tell the baby thank you, I’m glad someone appreciates my cooking.” 

Elain let out a beautiful little laugh that made Azriel’s heart speed up a little. He turned back to his cooking, quickly shaping the dough balls to put in the milk. He bit the inside of his cheek to distract from the funny feeling he was having in his chest, the one he didn’t want to think about.

Azriel carried on cooking, while Elain told him about what she’d been up to. He hadn’t seen her for 2 days because she had been spending time with Nesta, whose fussing was getting to new levels of annoying for Elain. She loved her sister, which she kept repeating throughout her rant, but she was a grown woman. Just because she was now pregnant, did not mean that she suddenly needed babying, not when she was about to be having her own baby soon. As much as Azriel understood Elain’s frustrations, he actually was more on Nesta’s side in this particular argument, not that he would ever say that out loud. Elain was so close to her due date that it was really quite risky leaving her on her own. The fact that she lived on her own was not comforting to anyone, and it was only after everyone had ganged up on her that she had relented and agreed that she would let Azriel know if she needed anything. She had told Azriel he was the lesser of many evils, and Azriel couldn’t help but feel proud at that. 

“Anyway,” Elain said, cutting herself off from her own rant, “I’m going to my 5th bathroom break in an hour.”

“Wow, the baby is going at it hard today, hmm?” Azriel asked, giving her a quick grin as he looked at her stomach, before carrying on with his cooking. 

“In the mood for a party clearly,” Elain grumbled as she started to get up off the sofa. It was a long and drawn-out process for Elain, but Azriel knew better than to try and help her before she asked for it. He had learnt the hard way that just because Elain was so sweet, did not mean she wasn’t an Archeron with her stubbornness and temper, she was just better at hiding it. 

“Azriel, I think I need your help before I-” Elain went quiet, causing Azriel to look up at her. 

“Is everything alright El?”

“Yeah, I just, I’m sorry but I think I’ve had a little accident and made a mess on your sofa.” Elain’s face was blank, Azriel guessed because she was trying to hide her embarrassment. 

“Oh that’s okay Elain, I know it’s not your fault. I’ll get you cleaned up and then I’ll clean it up don’t worry about it. But you know I don’t mind helping you up, I know how difficult it is for you.”

“No Az, I haven’t wet myself. I was having a funny feeling so I was going to go to the bathroom to check what was up.” Elain let out a laugh, but it was unlike her normal laugh. This one was nervous and forced, causing Azriel to worry. “I think my waters have broken.”

Azriel froze, his heart suddenly beating at what felt like was twice the speed it normally did. “Oh, shit.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear there's a part 3 coming at some point, I just had to split it off because it was getting so long and I still hadn't written everything I had wanted to include. Also, clearly I cannot write Azriel cooking anything but South Asian food I'm very sorry lmao. 
> 
> Please let me know what you think! Also if you have any requests for acotar fics then hmu in the comments or follow me on tumblr the link is on my page.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was really difficult to write, I had to delete everything and start it again because I hated the first draft I wrote, so thank you to StarkRavings for beta reading and helping me figure it out. Sorry it took me so long to get it out guys!
> 
> This one does mention premature births and also possible death? I promise that everyone will be fine, but please don't read it if this is distressing for you!

Elain had seemed calm when she told him that her waters had broken, but clearly, the reality of the situation had caught up with her, because she now looked scared as she sat back down on the sofa. 

“Elain, I’m sure it’s fine, right?” Azriel said, quickly turning the stove off and making sure that his flat would not burn down. That was the last thing they needed right now. 

He quickly rushed to her side, holding her hand in his and giving it a quick squeeze. Before Elain, the idea of holding someone’s hands made him feel sick, unless it was his family, and even then, he felt uncomfortable. With Elain, it never bothered him at all. 

“It’s too early. I’ve been so careful. The baby shouldn’t be here this early!” Elain started to breathe very quickly, panicking now.

“El, the baby is gonna be fine. I’m gonna go get your bag from your flat. You need to ring Nesta and Cassian. See if you can get through, if not leave them a voice mail. Tell them I’m taking you to the hospital.” Azriel pulled her keys out of her bag and quickly dashed out of his flat, leaving the doors open. 

He found Elain’s bag, which she had only packed a week ago, just because she felt like she needed to prepare for the baby. He couldn’t believe the baby was coming early and was worried, but he knew he couldn’t let his worry take over. Elain was the baby’s mother and absolutely terrified. He needed to be there for her. 

He locked Elain’s apartment up and then quickly rushed back to Elain. “Did you manage to get through to Nesta?”

“No! Both Nesta and Cassian’s phones are going straight to answer phone so I think they don’t have any signal where they are,” Elain answered, her voice getting shaky. She looked at Azriel and he could see the tears lining her eyes. 

“That’s fine. We just need to leave them a message so they know what’s going on,” he took Elain’s phone and rang Nesta, leaving her a voicemail to tell her what had happened and that they were going to the hospital.

He then handed the phone back and told Elain to ring her doctor while he rang Feyre. Feyre answered on the first ring thankfully. “Hey Az, is everything alright?”

“I’m fine but El has gone into labour early. I’m taking her to the hospital now. Meet us there if you can but there’s been an accident so that, combined with the usual traffic is gonna make things difficult.”

“We’ll be there as soon as we can. Thank you Az,” Feyre said, before hanging up.

Elain had just hung up her phone from the doctors. “They told me to come in immediately because they need to check over both of us,” she told Az, wiping her tears and then letting Az help her into her coat. 

“It’s fine El, we’re going to get there soon, and you and the baby are going to be fine,” he reassured her as they got to the car and he helped her in, before putting her bag into the back. “You are so strong, I don’t think there’s any way that any child of yours isn’t strong. Those doctors are going to make sure that both you and the baby are fine. You might have to spend a bit of time in the hospital, but you’ll both be fine.”

Elain gave Azriel a watery smile and tried to look like she was reassuring Azriel, although she wasn’t doing a very good job, so Azriel decided to carry on with his rambling. He didn’t usually speak this much, but if it helped distract Elain, then he didn’t care. 

“Gosh, I’m talking so much, I feel like I’m turning into Cassian,” Azriel said, which caused Elain to let out a snort, clutching her stomach still. She started rubbing her stomach in circles as though she was trying to soothe the baby. 

“What if you’re right, and the baby is fine, but I’m a terrible mother?” Elain asked him so quietly he could barely hear her. 

“El, what? Why would that ever-”

“The baby won’t know their father because of me. I might not be able to do this on my own.”

“El, that baby could have known its father, but because of him, the baby won’t. That’s not on you, that’s on him. You don’t need that man to raise this baby. You can do it fine without him, but that won’t mean you’re on your own. You have your sisters, my brothers, Mor, and even Amren as much as she pretends she doesn’t want anything to do with your baby. You bring so much joy to our lives, and there is no way that we would ever leave you on your own to raise a mini version of you. I know she’s going to bring us as much joy as you do.”

They pulled up outside of the main entrance to the maternity ward. Thankfully, there were parking spaces nearby, so Azriel quickly parked his car. By the time he got Elain’s things out of the car and went to help Elain out of the car, she was sitting with a thoughtful look on her face. 

“Is everything okay El?” 

“Yeah, I just really like what you said. Joy, that’s a really nice name. Perfect for her in fact,” she said as she gave her stomach a little pat. 

Azriel beamed at her. He couldn’t help it. “That sounds perfect. I’m honoured that you liked my ramblings so much you were inspired to name your child by what I said.”

“I don’t just like your ramblings Az, I like you. You’re special to me,” she said as they walked into the building. She turned to him, squeezing his hand. “Will you stay with me? I know this isn’t what you signed up for, but just until Feyre gets here, please?”

“El, I told you, there’s no way I’m going to leave you. I’m here for as long as you want me,” they smiled at each other before getting swept up with all the doctors and nurses. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I only have 1 more chapter planned and then we're done! I'm hoping the next one will be cuter, and also not take as long for me to write, but who knows? I might hate everything I write again. 
> 
> Let me know what you think either here or on tumblr, I'm @perseusannabeth!

**Author's Note:**

> There you have it, folks. I just wanted to keep this one short and sweet because I seem to be incapable of writing anything short. Please come talk to me on [tumblr](https://perseusannabeth.tumblr.com/) and if anyone has any acotar prompts for any ship then please leave me a comment or send me a message on tumblr. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!


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